By Rob Potter
ROCK HILL — A total of 886 runners and walkers competed in the 19th annual Rhulen Rock Hill Run and Ramble on Saturday morning to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the R4 patient fund.
After completing the 5K loop around Lake Louise Marie, the participants returned to Frontier Insurance on Lake Louise Marie Road for a health fair and awards ceremony featuring raffles, prizes, music from John Zanger and food and drink.
The Rock Hill Run & Ramble is held each year on Father’s Day Weekend in memory of Walter A. Rhulen, an avid runner and founder of Frontier Insurance Group who passed away from Leukemia several years ago.
The winner of Saturday’s run was Kyle O’Brien of Goshen, who ran the course in a time of 16 minutes, 12.6 seconds. O’Brien, 22, recently received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from SUNY Cortland.
“This is the second time I’ve ran here,” he said. “Last year I was second and ran 42 seconds faster.”
“This is a great race for a great cause,” O’Brien added.
Andy Latincsics of Newton, N.J. was second in a time of 16:41.7 and Alex Campanella of Glen Spey was third in 17:01.1.
Connie Grace was the first woman to finish. She crossed the finish line in a time of 19:00.5. Katy Schlichtman of Wurtsboro was second (19:11.3) and Roxanne Wegman of West Point was third (19:43.8).
“This is a great 5K in a beautiful environment and for a wonderful cause,” said Steve Ruwoldt, former CEO of Catskill Regional Medical Center. “It was exciting for me this year as I beat some of my previous runs.”
Husband and wife Richard and Mary Ellen Citelli of Goshen competed in the R4 for the first time last year and they returned on Saturday.
“It’s a nice course,” Richard Citelli said.
“We’ll be back for the race next year,” Mary Ellen Citelli commented.
At the awards ceremony, Race Director Suzy Rhulen-Loughlin thanked all of the runners and walkers, the 160 sponsors, members of Daytop Village in Parksville and the 50 race volunteers.
“We raised approximately $65,000 overall,” Rhulen-Loughlin said. “It was a great year. I’m thrilled.”
She noted that $13,800 was raised for the recipient of this year’s R4 patient fund, 14-year-old Heather Mustavs of Roscoe. Last October, Heather was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She has been undergoing chemotherapy treatments at Marie Fareri Children’s Hospital in Westchester County.
Heather was at the event with her father Will Mustavs, mother Julie Dreher and stepmother Kristine Mustavs.
“She just graduated from eighth grade last night,” Will Mustavs said of Heather, a student at Roscoe Central School. “She had 96.1 average and attended classes through Skype on her computer. The school has been great and a tutor came to work with her once a week.”
Will Mustavs was very appreciative of everyone involved with the R4 race for helping raise money to help Heather.
“It’s nice to live in a community where people come together and help each other,” he said. “We thank everyone.”
Dr. Joe Jurcic of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, who was Walter A. Rhulen’s doctor, as well as past beneficiaries of the R4 Fund spoke during the awards ceremony. They encouraged everyone to get tested at the health fair to see if they could be potentially be a bone marrow donor and help save someone’s life.
Among the raffle prizes was a cNote print of the U2 song “One” created by artist Erik Rosen. He came up with the idea for images based on song lyrics while quarantined in a hospital room for 35 days for a stem cell transplant.
The top three teams in the run were the Weight Watchers team, The Family School and the Jacobowitz-Gubits Law Firm of Monticello.
The top three overall and and age group finishers were as follows:
Overall Female
1. Connie Grace, 19:00.5; 2. Katy Schlichtman, Wurtsboro, 19:11.3; 3. Roxanne Wegman, West Point, 19:43.8
Overall Male
1. Kyle O’Brien, Goshen, 16:12.6; 2. Andy Latincsics, Newton, N.J., 16:41.7; 3. Alex Campanella, Glen Spey, 17:01.1
Female 1-10
1. Sarah Grodin, Wurtsboro, 26:11.6; 2. Giuliana Sadler, Port Jervis, 27:37.9; 3. Jillian McEnaney, Monticello, 28:51.7
Male 1-10
1. Harry Tomasi, Port Jervis, 24:56.9; 2. Michael Cubillas, Rock Hill, 25:06.3; 3. Danny Catalano, Monticello, 26:31.9
Female 11-15
1. Camryn Johnson, Rock Hill, 20:02.7; 2. Sydney Johnson, Rock Hill, 20:56.4; 3. Autumn Bender, Grahamsville, 21:46.4
Male 11 to 15
1. Michael Guglielmo, West Nyack, 17:50.2; 2. Hans Zanger, Forestburgh, 18:31.7; 3. Steven Biondi, Pine Bush, 19:05.3
Female 16-19
1. Rianne Erlwein, Jeffersonville, 21:49.8; 2. Olivia Rehm, Grahamsville, 21:57.1; 3. Ashley Weintraub, Hurleyville, 23:13.7
Male 16-19
1. Stephen Eckert, Hancock, 19:55.8; 2. Russell Amore, Glen Spey, 20:17.7; 3. Bennett O’Donnell, Hancock, 21:00.1
Female 20-29
1. Joanna Goldfarb, Harris, 21:13.1; 2. Michelle Wilson, Monroe, 22:14.2; 3. Angela Rein, Mongaup Valley, 23:24.1
Male 20-29
1. Kevin Wippel, Pine Bush, 17:33.6; 2. Tim Kostezko, Wallkill, 18:28; 3. Patrick Hayes, New York City, 18:30.2
Female 30-39
1. Katie Wittenberg, Pine Bush, 20:30.8; 2. Kristine Vogt, Florida, NY, 22:54.2; 3. Kimberly Weyant, Highland Lake, 23:53.8
Male 30-39
1. Raymond Revell, Wurtsboro, 17:16.7; 2. Jason Kennedy, Honesdale, Pa., 17:40.1; 3. Andy Vogel, Roseland, N.J., 18:47.7
Female 40-49
1. Barbara Ferrante, Wurtsboro, 20:52.5; 2. Barbara Sessa, Minisink, 21:12.2; 3. Erika Emigh, Wallkill, 22:03.3
Male 40-49
1. Erik Sellstrom, Liberty, 19:11.5; 2. Donald Thurston, Pine Bush, 19:17.5; 3. Tim Crill, Cornwall, 19:22.8
Female 50-59
1. Patty Insignares, Goshen, 22:37.3; 2. Valerie Kilcoin, Middletown, 22:39.6; 3. Annette Burke, Goshen, 22:57.6
Male 50-59
1. Wayne McDaniel, Hopewell Junction, 19:28.0; 2. Tom Manza, Monticello, 19:31.1; 3. George Shurter, Middletown, 20:10.6
Female 60-69
1. Beverly Garzon, Parksville, 34:45.3; 2. Cathy Pellicci, Napanoch, 36:42.9; 3. Ann Singer, Suffern, 37:21.9
Male 60-69
1. Carl Zuidema, Warwick, 22:02.4; 2. Richard Robillard, Chester, 22:24.5; 3. Lorne MacDonald, Sussex, N.J., 23:16.9
Female 70-75
1. Maryann Dowling, Rock Hill, 3:41.1; 2. Victoria Greffrath, Damascus, Pa., 38:09.0; 3. Gail Lavitt, Middletown, 51:03.6
Male 70-75
1. Raey Webster, Warwick, 28:45.4; 2. Burton Ledina, Monticello, 33:42.6
Female 76 and Over
1. Mary Heinle, White Sulphur Springs, 41:45.4